Staff at quarantine hotel are missing Covid tests 'due to narrow timeframe'

The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Santry near Dublin Airport is used as a Covid-19 quarantine hotel for air travellers arriving into Ireland. Picture: PA

Staff at a hotel used for people in mandatory quarantine are missing Covid-19 tests.

Testing is offered to staff at the Crowne Plaza in Santry on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, from 8am to 10.30am.

Only rostered staff are allowed on-site at any time due to Covid-19 restrictions, meaning those who do not work those specific hours are missing out on testing.

Emails to staff, seen by the Irish Examiner, state: “If you are due to work on one of these mornings please drop in to see the HSE team on that morning. Please ensure that you make every effort to attend at one of these sessions every week.”

However, due to the narrow window for testing, many who work in the hotel are not being tested because they do not work during the specified hours and days.

One staff member who spoke to the Irish Examiner said: “The Covid tests for staff are scheduled in the mornings so the majority of staff can’t access them: 

We’re supposed to get tested weekly but the majority of younger staff work weekend afternoons and evenings, so we can’t get tested unless we come to work in our spare time, which isn’t allowed.

“If we go into the hotel when we’re off duty, it’s not only unsafe for us, but for other staff members and guests.”

Some Tifco Hotel Group management personnel were vaccinated in March by the HSE at a centre operated by the National Ambulance Service at St Mary’s Hospital in Phoenix Park.

A hotel source confirmed that those who got vaccines were senior managers and other staff who do not normally have face-to-face interactions with customers.

Most of the staff who deal with the rooms where guests are staying have not been vaccinated.

An email sent to staff at the time telling them about the vaccinations stated: “In the case of very high demand for vaccines, we may need to prioritise who receives them.

We do not believe you will get another opportunity to get the vaccine through work so please consider this offer carefully. 

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said: “The Department of Health is in constant contact with Tifco Hotel Group about all issues relating to the management of mandatory hotel quarantine.

At all times, our priority is to ensure that everyone completing their period of mandatory quarantine is comfortable and secure.

“This includes those working in the mandatory quarantine hotels.

“The department and Tifco continue to work together to ensure this is the case.

“As part of the mandatory quarantine process, Tifco hotel staff, their contractors [transport, security, medical], and the Defence Forces in their State liaison official role, who are interacting directly with those in mandatory quarantine, will be tested and vaccinated. This process has begun,” the spokesperson said.